Amazon Studios
The romantic comedy formula and genre is so old and clichéd at this point that multiple satires have been made from it (perhaps the best is 2014’s They Came Together). Yet it’s such a relatable conceit that stories simply do not stop coming — last year there were at least five or more I can easily think of off the top of my head, some of which were more clever than others and some that merely copied previously popular movies. So it takes a lot to stand out in this world of rom-com.
I Want You Back comes from director Jason Orley in his sophomore feature written by drama/sitcom writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger. We start by following two couples, Peter (Charlie Day) and Anne (Gina Rodriguez), who are breaking up because Anne thinks that Peter is holding back her entertainment career and that he’s never really pursued his passion. Similarly, couple Emma (Jenny Slate) and Noah (Scott Eastwood) are breaking up for the simple reason that Noah has met someone else.
Naturally both Peter and Emma are suffering because of this, and they accidentally run into each other — and of course, they realize they are both in the same boat, the ‘dumpee’. The two start hanging out as a preventative measure (to make sure the other one doesn’t check in on their ex), but this quickly flames out when they decide instead that hey, we should convince them somehow to get back together with us.
So they concoct a plan to trick the other’s ex into getting back together — Peter will become buds with Noah and convince him to leave his new girlfriend, while Emma will try to torpedo Anne’s relationship with new director (of a grade school play) Logan (Manny Jacinto). Although they bandy about the idea of doing a less cruel Cruel Intentions, there’s nothing remotely as convoluted, or sadly, as memorable as that crazy movie.
There’s an extended internal metaphor for Little Shop of Horrors as it’s the one the pre-teens are putting on, leading to an improbable if delightful performance later on. It’s also pretty obvious where the story will ultimately go, as the movie still sticks with the classic rom-com story tropes despite twisting the formula a little bit.
What works well is really the performances of the two main leads, even if they rarely get a chance to really cut loose with the manic performances both are known for. Gina Rodriguez is an effortlessly charismatic performer, but her part is essentially nothing and Noah is simply a ‘decent dude’ type with even less depth.
With a movie like this you also really need to buy into the chemistry between everyone, and it’s never quite to the romantic level it needs to be — I can buy these people as great friends, but not lovers. I think that the main issue though is how the movie reverse twists itself to become formulaic again, and although it’s not like I think it needed to be some kind of radical madness, I was hoping (if not expecting) for something a bit more original in the third act.
Still, it’s a watchable enough movie with a bunch of actors I like, and it’s certainly not bad — it’s instead just fine. As a vehicle for Charlie Day and Jenny Slate it’s not bad either, although of course I’m more interested in seeing whatever they’re up to next.
I Want You Back has a run time of 1 hour 51 minutes and is rated R for language, sexual material, some drug use and partial nudity. The film is streaming exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
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